Hummingbird favorites in my garden.

I've had some people ask me which plants attract hummingbirds in my garden, so I thought I would list the most popular flowers and shrubs that I have.  I wish I had great pictures of the hummingbirds at the flowers they like, but I've almost given up trying.  I see them there, run for the camera, and they're gone.  We have hummers here almost year round.  One day maybe I'll have some time out there when I can sit and be ready, maybe once school starts and I don't have an entourage with me each time I walk outside.  

Even during our coldest months the last couple of winters they have been visiting the fuchsia until it succumbed to frost for the season.  After that I left feeders up for the birds that were already here.   

Here are some of their absolute favorites in my yard.

Starting in Spring the first flowers they go for are:

Heucheras, and in my garden they prefer the red flowered ones the most.  These bloom into early summer.

Weigela 'Minuet' stays small and has lots of the tube shaped flowers the hummingbirds love.

This is another Spring shrub they fight over.  Pink Flowering Currant (ribes sanguineum).  This picture doesn't do it justice, it's so pretty.  It grows in part shade and has gotten to be at least 8 feet tall.

Other spring bloomer they like here are Columbines and Foxgloves.

Summer favorites, many of which bloom until the first frost:

Monardas are always popular, but the 'Jacob Cline' is like a magnet for them.  They are pretty territorial over this plant.  I wish they would just leave each other alone so I could see more than one feeding at a time.  This starts blooming in early summer.

Phlox, especially this pink one, they visit frequently.

Verbena bonariensis which self seeds everywhere (and I like that) blooms through fall.

Fuchsia magellanica starts blooming early summer until the first frost.  I have several hardy fuchsias in my garden, but this large red one is the most popular.  If you look really hard you can see a hummingbird.

Autumn Sage 'Rose Pink (Salvia greggii) is new in my garden and the hummingbirds found it right away.  I hope the name is right and it blooms into Autumn.  Another attempt at a picture, there is the blur of one on the right.

Cardinal Flower (lobelia cardinalis) which grows in the pond, will bloom through fall.

In August Butterfly Bush (Buddleia alternifolia) starts to bloom and continues through fall.  When I went out to take this picture there was a hummingbird feeding at it.  I made the mistakes of wearing flip flops as I walked up to take the picture.  Note to self:  bare feet or shoes that don't make noise are easier to sneak up on birds with.

Rose of Sharon 'Minerva' (Hibiscus syriacus) is always a late bloomer here.  When I was out by it the other day watching a hummingbird, one flew right to me about a foot away from where I was standing.  It startled me so much I couldn't get the camera focused fast enough.  I realized after why it flew right to me, I had a bright pink shirt on.

I don't think I'd ever seen a hummingbird up close until I rented a house that had Rose Campion throughout the entire garden.  Once I read more about what flowers they liked and had my own garden to plant in, it became an important part of choosing flowers.  Now that I see them frequently I still get excited and will call my girls or my husband to come and look at them buzzing from flower to flower, or stopping to rest in a low brach of a tree.